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Veteran’s Museum gets AT&T boost

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Alyce Benson; Bill Benson, WHVM Board Member; Gordon Bergman, WHVM Vice President; Frank Chasney, WHVM President; Kelly Wade Bettuchi, AT&T; Arlene DeGrand Painter, WHVM Manager; State Rep. Charles Ferraro.

The West Haven Veterans Museum & Learning Center has been awarded a $5,000 contribution from AT&T to support the museum’s ongoing efforts to preserve the history of Connecticut’s military and the sacrifices made by Connecticut soldiers. AT&T’s contribution will support the museum’s educational programs.

“The West Haven Veterans Museum & Learning Center has an all-volunteer staff, and we survive on grants and donations. This donation comes at a critical time. On behalf of the staff, and myself, we thank AT&T for this most generous contribution,” said President Frank Chasney in a statement.

“I would like to thank AT&T for the opportunity to bring together two great institutions that have the desire to benefit our veterans and our community.  Most Connecticut  residents only think of AT&T as the letters on the top of their monthly bills, however AT&T does so much for our community that goes unnoticed. AT&T’s generous donation to the West Haven Veterans Museum & Learning Center will go a long way to bringing awareness to one of West Haven’s best-kept secrets,” said State Representative Charles Ferraro in a statement.

In 2013, AT&T set a goal of nationally hiring 10,000 veterans and their families over the ensuing five years. The goal was reached in three years. In conjunction with White House Joining Forces, AT&T then committed to hiring another 10,000 veterans and their families by 2020.

Jingle Bell Rock House

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On Dec. 6, Jordan’s Furniture in New Haven was filled with people for the annual WPLR Chaz & AJ Toy drive. The event was a huge success raising an astounding $162,484 to provide toys for children in need this holiday season. The entertainment included Grammy-winning rock band Living Colour and three other groups featuring students and teachers from Rock House School of Music. The Rock House All-Star kids band played hits from the Trans-Siberian Orchestra and rock versions of holiday classics. Rock House Entertainment. a band featuring instructors from Rock House School of Music. had the crowd rocking and a 14-person student choir sang a cappella Christmas songs throughout the event. Above: The Rock House kids were in full force. Below: The Band Living Colour was the feature of the evening. Bottom: The crowd was enjoying the music.

Rossi, city cited during CCM convention

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During the CCM convention, Rossi also receives an award for West Haven’s Bronze designation by Sustainable CT at its 2019 Certified Towns Award Ceremony. The city met high standards in a broad range of sustainability accomplishments, including improving air quality in public spaces, to earn the prestigious Bronze certification.

By Michael P. Walsh

Special to the Voice

Mayor Nancy R. Rossi was presented with a framed certificate from Connecticut Conference of Municipalities President Neil M. O’Leary and Trinity College professor Daniel J. Mrozowski on Dec. 3 for completing 36 hours of study to become a certified Connecticut municipal official.

Rossi was honored for her achievement in the CCM training program at its annual convention at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Ledyard.

The CCMO coursework, developed by Trinity, educates elected and appointed municipal officials in working collaboratively, solving problems, building partnerships, and working across political and organizational boundaries, said O’Leary, the mayor of Waterbury.

During the CCM convention, Rossi was also recognized with an award for West Haven’s Bronze designation by Sustainable CT at its 2019 Certified Towns Award Ceremony.

The city met high standards in a broad range of sustainability accomplishments, including improving air quality in public spaces, to earn the prestigious Bronze certification, according to Lynn Stoddard, executive director of the Institute for Sustainable Energy at Eastern Connecticut State University, which manages the Sustainable CT program.

West Haven was also nominated as a CT Success Story for its commitment to addressing climate vulnerability.

The Bronze certification is good for three years and can be upgraded to Silver with the achievement of additional sustainability actions, said Robin Parsons, who leads the West Haven Sustainability Team.

Soderman’s heroics legendary

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President Harry S. Truman awarded Soderman the Congressional Medal of Honor in a White House ceremony.

Bill Soderman’s engagement with German panzers and infantry lasted over 16 hours, until mid-morning on Dec. 18. The environment that night and morning was a perfect match for Bill’s stealth and cunning, with almost no moon and very heavy fog after daybreak. Bill would knock out two more tanks as well and kill at least three German infantry with his carbine from a platoon sent into the woods to protect their armor. With Bill Soderman on the job, the Nazis were going to have to find another way through Belgium.

Later that morning, Soderman received two grievous wounds in the right upper chest and shoulder when tanks blocked by the wrecks on the narrow road attempted to protect their flanks by hosing down the woods with machine gun fire. Unarmed and badly injured, Bill managed to crawl through the woods and along a roadside ditch to safety, leaving a blood trail nearly a mile long. By effectively blocking two roads with the tanks he disabled, Bill’s action through that morning likely saved the lives of hundreds of other Americans.

What could have been going through Bill’s mind during those 16 long hours in the frozen woods? Certainly he must have thought of his own mom and dad back home in West Haven Christmas shopping at Shartenberg’s or ordering holiday pies from Wolfe’s Bakery. Maybe he had time to recall his three years playing football at Westie High.

This time the “enemy” wasn’t just a bunch of kids in leather helmets running around a muddy playing field; this time they were grown men in steel helmets armed to the teeth with rifles, machine guns, mortars, and tanks. Let’s hope he didn’t have time to torture himself with memories of a good soft shell crab from Savin Rock, the sweet aroma of Zuppardi’s round loaves baking on Union Avenue, or the hot buttered popcorn at the Rivoli Theatre.

During the 17th, 18th, and 19th of December at least 69 German tanks were destroyed in and around the villages of Krinkelt and Rocherath. But stopping the Wehrmacht in the “Battle of the Twin Villages” exacted a terrible toll in GI blood. After one week of intense round-the-clock fighting in the area, the US Army lost nearly 5000 men killed or missing, making it one of the most costly efforts in US military history.

And what motivated Bill Soderman? Old soldiers would probably say that Bill just didn’t want to see any more young Americans lying dead in the snow or any more Gold Stars in the windows of his hometown. We’ll never know. He took those heartfelt memories to his grave when he passed away in 1980.

What the anti-military types have never understood is that men like Bill Soderman and Audie Murphy did what they did, not out of some deranged machismo blood lust, but because they were desperately attempting to save the lives of others. Bill Soderman was a very quiet man.

In January 1945 my 19-year-old father, who had left West Haven High School in his junior year to enlist in the Air Force, would be shot down in a B-24 bomber which crashed behind German lines in Belgium. He would be MIA for over three weeks, before being picked up by a British Army patrol and evacuated to England to fly more missions with the 446th Bomb Group out of Bungay, East Anglia. His older brother, a tanker in George Patton’s Third Army, was back in action in France after recovering from injuries caused by a Luftwaffe bomb blast.

My Danish grandparents, Richard and Ellen Hogfeldt, were proud to have two young sons fighting in Europe. And they were proud to be newly-minted Americans, having received their citizenship papers after the requisite seven-year waiting period as legal emigrants to the US. My grandfather worked at Winchester’s in New Haven, and then second shift at High Standard in Hamden drilling .50 caliber machine gun barrels.

Their younger son would use those gun barrels that winter from his position as nose gunner in a B-24, sometimes in a vain attempt to stop Luftwaffe ME-262 jets blitzing 8th Air Force bomber formations at near Mach 1closing speeds.

Grandma Ellen worked at Seamless Rubber in New Haven, making surgical gloves used by military doctors attempting to repair the broken bodies of young Americans, bodies which were being broken in huge numbers as a increasingly bloody war staggered to its conclusion. With both of their sons in combat overseas, and now one MIA in Belgium in January, my grandparents, never very devout Lutherans, began attending church more regularly.

Bill Soderman’s sector of the Bulge in the twin Belgian villages of Krinkelt-Rocherath was the only area of the entire 80-mile long battlefront that December where the German Army failed to make a significant advance into American lines. After the war, one of the Wehrmacht’s most respected and skillful generals, Hasso von Manteuffel, stated, “We failed because our right flank ran its head against a wall.”

A strapping 6 foot 200 pound brick in that wall was a private in the 2nd Infantry Division, William A. Soderman of West Haven. The quiet guy from First Avenue.

Tax bills go out Jan. 1

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By Michael P. Walsh

Special to the Voice

The second installment of city tax bills — real estate, personal property, motor vehicle and sewer — are due Jan. 1.

The 2018 supplemental motor vehicle bills are in the process of being mailed for vehicles registered after Oct. 1, 2018, and are also due Jan. 1.

Payments after Feb. 3 are considered delinquent and subject to interest, Tax Collector Dorothy Chambrelli said.

The tax office is open from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays on the first floor of City Hall, 355 Main St. The city has an ATM outside the office.

Taxpayers can make a payment at www.cityofwesthaven.com and clicking on Tax Collector under the Government heading. Sewer bills are on the same page but under a separate heading. Tax payment history can also be viewed and printed.

The fees for credit cards and electronic checks are posted on the city website and outside the tax office.

During tax season, Dec. 23-Feb. 3, current taxes can be paid by the drop box outside the tax office from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Current taxes can also be paid by mail to the tax office lockbox, P.O. Box 150461, Hartford 06115-0461. When paying by lockbox or drop box, the canceled check is the receipt.

After Feb. 3, taxes with interest can be paid by mail to the Office of the Tax Collector, P.O. Box 401, West Haven 06516. Payments can also be made in person.

Anyone needing a motor vehicle clearance must pay in person with cash, credit card, bank check or money order.

Soderman a hero for the ages

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William A. Soderman was just a 32-year-old GI from First Avenue, but his actions in 1944 made him a hero for all time.

By Vic Hogfeldt

Special to the Voice

When I was a kid WWII still loomed large in the public imagination, as it should have. Records show that at least 108 sons of West Haven were lost in that war from a town with only about half its current population. My Italian-American grandmother, Mary Damicis, who owned a home on Washington Avenue, told me when I was a boy that there were five Gold Star mothers between Brown and Main Streets. Everybody lost somebody. West Haven gave more than its fair share.

My dad was a World War II 8th Air Force combat veteran and a Yale graduate. He supported our family on a tire builder’s salary from Armstrong Rubber. We were a URW family and, by the time I was nine, I knew what a contract was and who scabs were. We also knew Bill Soderman, the first and only West Havener ever to receive the Medal of Honor. My father’s family, the Hogfeldt’s, had emigrated from Denmark and moved to Brown Street in the 1920s. Bill’s family came from Sweden, and most of the Scandinavian families in West Haven at the time were linked by the ethnic social organizations to which they belonged, such as the Danish Sisterhood and the Swedish Apollo Society. West Haven was a tightly-knit community back then, and folks tended to watch out for one another. At one point we almost bought Bill’s house on First Ave. Bill worked at the VA for many years and my dad always said that he was one of the quietest guys he’d ever met.

When Billy Soderman played football at West Haven High, they didn’t have signs on the walls saying “If it’s mean, INTERVENE!” On Dec. 17, 1944 Bill didn’t need any signs. But he sure as hell intervened.

Pvt. Soderman’s terrible day began near Rocherath, Belgium with an enormous German artillery barrage, a cataclysm of fire, blood, and steel which cut his infantry battalion to pieces. It was a portion of what became known as the Battle of the Bulge, a ferocious and totally unexpected Nazi counter-attack moving west deep into Belgium through Allied lines in the Ardennes Forest.

The “Bulge” occurred during the worst northern European winter in 50 years, with heavy snows and below zero temps that lasted for several weeks, exactly the kind of weather Hitler was counting on to keep tank-busting American Thunderbolt and RAF Typhoon aircraft off his back while his boys made their big move. It would result in more American casualties than any battle before or since, even greater than Gettysburg, when American fought American during the Civil War.

The European war was supposed to be over by Christmas. American military intelligence unanimously believed that as of December the Wehrmacht lacked the capacity to mount a serious counter-offensive. US military production had been allowed to dip that fall, and GI’s on the ground lacked sufficient cold-weather gear to fight a winter war. Not so the Germans, whose own military production actually peaked in November despite a vigorous bombing campaign by the US Air Force and the RAF. Their army also had extensive cold-weather combat experience in Russia and Norway.

Bill’s outfit, the 2nd Infantry Division, had been in nearly constant combat since coming ashore in June on D-Day plus 2. Thirty-two-year-old Private Soderman had demonstrated proficiency with the bazooka back in July when he knocked out a German tank on Hill 192 in France on the road to Saint-Lo. He was now armed with the latest version of that weapon, proudly made by General Electric on Barnum Ave. in Bridgeport, but also requiring its shooter to get real close to a tank for a likely kill. A poorly placed shot would not stop a large tank like a Panther or a Tiger and a bad angle would cause the rocket to bounce harmlessly off the hull.

On the night of Dec. 17 Bill knew that stealth and surprise would be his only allies, and that to effectively destroy a big tank, he would have to get that rocket into the crew compartment where its ammunition was stored. Regardless, the flash of the bazooka would instantly give away his position, drawing fire from every enemy gun in the vicinity.

The German attack began with such speed and violence that there was simply no time for Bill’s unit to evacuate its wounded. Initially, Bill volunteered to stay behind in order to attempt to hand the wounded over to the attacking Nazis, a dubious plan since at that very moment in this offensive the SS at Malmedy were shooting captured Americans in cold blood.

Bill’s commanders knew that an assault by German panzers and infantry would quickly follow their artillery. It was then that Bill decided to take the war into his own freezing hands. He was trained as a bazooka man operating in a two-man team. Bill was the shooter and his partner the loader. But his partner had been wounded in the preceding artillery attack, so Bill had to act alone.

In the growing winter darkness of that December afternoon, Bill lugged a bazooka and several canvas bags filled with rockets into the snowy woods, as well as fragmentation grenades, his M1 carbine and a .45 Colt sidearm. This private was packing some real heat.

He figured that if he could conceal himself beside the narrow road, he might be able to dart out of the woods, shoot a lead tank, and thus block the advance of an armored column. If he moved quickly enough back into the darkened woods, the accompanying German infantry might not be able to see who or what was shooting at their tanks. This might provide precious time for Bill’s battered unit to withdraw to the Elsenborn Ridge four miles to the west.

A few minutes later an American with binoculars spotted five Mark V Panther tanks rounding a bend in the road several hundred yards in the distance. Suddenly a figure sprang out onto the icy road in front of the lead tank, crouched down 15 feet from it, and fired a bazooka. Somebody yelled that the guy must be nuts. The tank exploded, creating an enormous fireball which incinerated its crew and blocked the road. Every other American with two good legs was running like hell in the opposite direction. Bill’s night of tank killing had just begun. As military historian William Cavanagh has written, “Private Soderman began his own private war.”

To be continued.

Families benefit from WHCH program

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Families involved in the West Haven Community House Head Start program were given lessons in nutrition and food from the Connecticut Food Bank in a program last week.

Local families participated in monthly nutrition education workshops and received food from The Connecticut Food Bank GROW program, which provides highly nutritious food for low-income households with children enrolled in early childhood, pre-school daycare, Head Start programs, and elementary schools.

Through the GROW program, more than 3,000lbs of food was distributed to families of children enrolled in West Haven Community House’s Head Start program and the West Haven Family Resource Center who participated in the three month program.

“The purpose of the GROW program is to help children by educating their parents. The belief is that if we can get parents to begin making those subtle changes in what, and even how they are cooking when their children are young, eating healthy will be a part of that child’s everyday diet as they grow up”, said Huwerl Thornton, Jr., community partners and programs coordinator at The Connecticut Food Bank.

Connecticut Food Bank volunteer, Deb Finelli, assists WH Family Resource parent, Danielle Blaine, with picking out food from the Grow Truck.

Families participating in the program attended nutrition education workshops conducted by SNAP-Ed, which teaches people how to shop for and cook healthy, budget-friendly meals, and how to make their SNAP dollars stretch.

After each workshop, parents board the GROW (Grocery On Wheels) Truck where they select healthy food items and receive information on how to prepare foods that may be unfamiliar to them.

The GROW Truck serves as a healthy food pantry on wheels. The customized vehicle is equipped with refrigerated cases and special shelving to stock food items such as fresh fruit and vegetables, low-fat dairy products, meat, fish and other healthy proteins, along with healthy foods like brown rice and whole-grain products.

The GROW initiative is made possible through a grant from Our Family Foundation by Stop & Shop.

In addition to receiving healthy food and learning about healthy eating habits through the workshops, families save money that can be used to open a savings account, pay down bills and help stabilize their budgets.

In addition to providing the skills and knowledge necessary for success in kindergarten, the Community House’s Head Start preschool program connects income eligible, working families with a variety of resources that offer nutrition, health and social supports and help them achieve their goals around housing stability, continued education, and financial literacy.

“We are fortunate to collaborate with the Connecticut Food Bank and their partners to bring this vital services to the families we serve,” said Patty Stevens, executive director of The West Haven Community House. “These programs along with charitable donations from local clubs, organizations and individuals help strengthen families and improve the quality of life for hundreds of people in our community.”

Council hears residents give first concerns

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Josh LaBella

Voice Reporter

New members of the City Council heard about some of the issues that will be at the forefront of the next two years in their first regular meeting Monday night. The council also created an educational and outreach committee concerning the charter revisions.

Issues brought up during public session included the budget, taxes and economic development.

John Galvin, of the Village Improvement Association, said he was looking start a fine working relationship with the council after being “held at arm’s length” by the last council. The Village Improvement Association runs the city’s libraries, and Galvin has been an outspoken proponent of greater library funding in the face of repeated cuts to their budget.

“The library is apolitical,” said Galvin. “We are here to serve the community. There will be some discussion about our funding. I look forward to a very fruitful and open relationship.”

Library funding became a focal point during the budgetary process last year. Dozens of supporters flocked to meetings to speak on the importance of the service the library system provides in West Haven.

Ted Brown of Allingtown discussed the sale of city property in his borough. He claimed the citizens of the area have little input on what development projects are in their area. He referenced the tax abatements granted to Acorn Group developments and said the citizens are shouldering the burden developments were supposed to offset. He also spoke to the ever-contentious Haven project.

“You got a Haven [The Haven mall development] over here,” said Brown. “Malls are obsolete. You’ve got to get to that. They’re obsolete. Everybody is shopping on the internet. If we are going to survive as a city, we better wake up.”

One primary part of the councils work on Monday night was the creation of a Charter Revision Education and Outreach Committee. The committee will be a key part of helping citizens make an informed decision when deciding the fate of the charter revision that was approved last session.

“This committee will be tasked with educating the citizens of West Haven,” said Councilwoman Robbin Hamilton, the chairman of the council’s Charter Revision Committee. “This commission will be charged with establishing, executing, and campaigning to educate the public to the proposed changes and will also be required to submit a report of their work to the city of West Haven council.”

If approved, the charter revisions would bring substantial changes for the city, not the least of which would be the mayor joining the City Council as the leader and thirteenth member of the body. In the mayor’s place, a city manager would act as the chief officer of the city.

Other major changes would see a shrinking of the voting districts from ten to three and the extension of terms from two years to four.

Members of the original Charter Revision Commission had been asked if they would serve on this new committee last session, with some City Council members saying those members would be best at educating the public. It is unclear if any of the former commission will agree to serve on this new public body.

Murillo lights city Yuletide

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Special guest Gabriella “Gabby” Murillo, center, joins Mayor Nancy R. Rossi, with grandson Arthur Rossi, 9, and Santa and Mrs. Claus to light the Christmas tree on the Green during the annual holiday kickoff Saturday.

By Michael P. Walsh

Special to the Voice

Santa and Mrs. Claus joined Mayor Nancy R. Rossi and very special guest Gabriella “Gabby” Murillo to light the Christmas tree on the Green during the annual holiday kickoff Saturday.

After arriving to the Main Street side of the Green on the West Haven Fire Department’s 1935 Mack pump firetruck, Santa and Mrs. Claus were escorted to the nearby stage by the West Haven High School and Seahawks cheerleading teams to the sound of applause and shouts of glee from several hundred merrymakers who braved the bitter cold.

Before the lighting of the tree, which is encircled by five smaller evergreen trees adorned with fluorescent-colored lights, Rossi recognized Murillo, who strolled in on a motorized wheelchair to enthusiastic applause from the all-ages crowd.

Victorian carolers lead a singalong at The John C. Ireland Bandstand.

Beside the stage, Murillo was surrounded by her parents, Eric and Amanda Murillo, and her sister Jennifer Maurutis, 32. Sisters Amanda Murillo, 34, and Cassie Murillo, 25, were unable to attend.

Gabby Murillo is back home in West Haven — the first time the Murillos have all been together since she was paralyzed from the neck down in a June car crash while embarking on her dream internship at Disney World.

On June 16, Murillo was struck by a truck while driving in Orlando, Florida, causing spinal damage beyond repair. She had reportedly been hit at full speed by a drunk driver while she was stopped at a red light with a friend.

Chris Burns helps his son, Carson Burns, 6, and his stepson, Luca Tufano, 9, write letters to Santa.

Murillo’s hometown immediately rallied around the 22-year-old, holding multiple “Gabby Strong” fundraisers large and small to help her family pay for the incalculable medical and other expenses that have accompanied her recovery, including a specialized wheelchair, an addition to the family’s Hickory Street home and a handicapped-accessible vehicle.

Rossi, who was accompanied onstage by her 9-year-old grandson, Arthur Rossi, said Murillo’s strength, determination and fighting spirit is a source of inspiration for her close-knit family, the community and her legion of friends, who have all pledged their unwavering support for her continued progress.

The holiday festival opened at 2 p.m. with Christmas music, food trucks, face painting, train rides and wreath decorating, as well as craft and artisan vendors.

It was presented by the city, the First Congregational Church of West Haven and West Haven United, an organization aimed at bringing the city’s volunteer groups together.

Lou Esposito, Rossi’s executive assistant, served as the master of ceremonies for the six-hour event, which featured a cast of costumed Christmas characters that roamed the Green.

The festivities continued into the afternoon with the opening of Santa’s village and eight craft stations, where children decorated wooden ornaments, wrote letters to Santa, and made cards for U.S. troops overseas and those at the Veterans Affairs Hospital on Campbell Avenue.

West Haven High junior Nora E. Mullins sang the national anthem, and the school’s Drama Club performed a holiday play.

The ceremony continued with performances by the West Haven High dance team, holiday carols sung by the St. Lawrence School chorus and performances by the Top Hat Dance Academy.

Cheerleaders of the West Haven High varsity and junior varsity teams and Seahawks JV team performed a medley of game day cheers, followed by Yuletide classics sung by the Bailey Middle School chorus and a singalong led by Victorian carolers.

Before their long sleigh ride back to the North Pole, Santa and Mrs. Claus posed for snapshots in their workshop. Organizers offered the photos with Santa as a free digital download online.

People can view and download their photos on the city’s Flickr page at https://goo.gl/EkLxZz. The internet address is case sensitive.

Just steps from Santa’s workshop, boys and girls dropped off their wish lists at St. Nick’s official U.S. Postal Service mailbox.

Huge electric snowflakes decorated The John C. Ireland Bandstand, and Victorian streetlamps bedecked with angels blowing on trumpets illuminated the walkways.

The decorated Green also included an inflatable snow globe that kids went in and had their pictures taken.

Along with hayrides, youngsters rode on a vintage firetruck from the West Shore Fire Department. They also rode on the Roaming Railroad, a trackless train sponsored by the West Haven PTA Council.

People brought nonperishable items for the West Haven Emergency Assistance Task Force, which provides food for residents in need.

Volunteers from the West Haven Chamber of Commerce handed out free hot chocolate, and vendors sold food and novelties.

The vendors included the First Congregational Church and Franco’s Fried Dough-Licious and Ted’s Steam Machine food trucks.

Also, volunteers from West Haven United sold hot apple cider, coffee and hot chocolate.

After the lighting, the sounds of the holiday season filled the air with rock ’n’ roll renditions of Christmas favorites by bands from The Rock House School of Music, followed by a holiday-themed concert by Off the Hook, “Connecticut’s premier party band.”

BOE, Council pick leaders

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Josh LaBella

Voice Reporter

The Board of Education and City Council voted members into leadership positions in back-to-back organizational meetings on Monday night. The start of the new term led to changes in the board while the council remained largely the same.

In the Board of Education, Rosemary Russo was replaced as chairman by newly elected member Cebi Waterfield. Waterfield has previously served on the board for six years.

The board voted 6-3 in support of picking Waterfield as chairman. The three votes for Russo were cast by Russo herself, Robert Guthrie and Jim Morrissey. Morrissey took umbrage to the change in leadership.

“Why try to fix something that definitely isn’t broken?” asked Morrissey, who added that Russo was an effective chairperson during her tenure in the role. He said that while he and Russo disagreed on a number of issues, she had always done a good job at leading the body. He said Assistant Superintendent Anne Druzolowski had told him that the board, under Russo, was the best she had ever worked with.

The votes for vice-chairman and secretary treasurer fell along the exact same lines. Rosa Richardson was voted in as the former while Patricia Libero was picked for the latter. The newly minted Waterfield thanked Russo and Guthrie, the former vicechair, for their leadership in the last term. She said she hoped they would be of assistance as she took on the new role.

“Lastly, I am really looking forward to the next two years of working together with all of you to utilize everyone’s talents in a collaborative effort for all the students and staff and taxpayers of the city of West Haven,” Waterfield said.

On the City Council side, Ron Quagliani was unanimously voted to remain in the position of chairman. Robin Hamilton was chosen to retain her position as majority leader while Republicans Barry Lee Cohen and Colleen O’Connor will split the duties of minority leader.

Quagliani said that over the next week he would work with the council to pick chairmen for each committee. He said there are 13 committees on the council and every member would chair one. Quagliani noted that the council will most likely be forming a committee on charter revision to see through the process started in the last term. He also said the committees on recycling and the environment may be rolled into one committee on sustainability.

Quagliani said he was happy to get started with the new council. He said the fact that eight of the members of the council are newly elected was exciting.

“It brings fresh ideas, a fresh perspective, advocacy,” said Quagliani. “I’m really excited to see what lies ahead in this term.”